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The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a two-day virtual workshop that explored the biological mechanisms of empathy and compassion. Workshop participants examined the factors that influence the development of empathy and compassion, their role in brain health, and their potential to inform future medical treatments. The workshop brought together leaders from multiple disciplines to discuss how understanding empathy's biological mechanisms could have broader applications in areas like workplace practices, artificial intelligence, and education.
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Workshop_in_brief
·2025
Empathy and compassion shape how people build relationships, care for one another, and respond to suffering. Yet, the biological mechanisms that underlie these traits and their influence on brain health are not fully understood. The National Academies Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorde...
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Description
A planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will host a two-day public workshop that brings together leaders and experts across disciplines and sectors to explore the neurobiology of empathy and compassion and potential implications for treatments for brain disorders, human well-being, and other applications.
Invited presentations and discussions may:
- Consider the various definitions and measurements of empathy and compassion across fields.
- Examine evidence on the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of empathy and compassion, their evolutionary origin, and their role in brain functionality, including in some cases of brain disorders.
- Explore how factors such as genetics, environment, social interactions, and psychological states influence the development and expression of empathy and compassion.
- Discuss how different treatments (e.g., behavioral and pharmacological) for brain disorders affect empathy and compassion.
- Consider how understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of empathy and compassion may be applied in other domains such as healthy workforce practices and to foster human well-being.
A planning committee will develop the agenda for the workshop, select and invite speakers and discussants, and moderate the discussions. Following the workshop, a proceedings of the presentations and discussions will be prepared by a designated rapporteur in accordance with institutional guidelines.
Collaborators
Sponsors
Acadia Pharmaceuticals
Alzheimer's Association
American Academy of Neurology
American Brain Coalition
American Neurological Association
Boehringer Ingelheim
BrightFocus Foundation
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Cohen Veterans Bioscience
Dana Foundation
Department of Veterans Affairs
Eisai
Eli Lilly and Company
Food and Drug Administration
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
Gatsby Charitable Foundation
Harmony Biosciences
Janssen Research & Development, LLC
Karuna Therapeutics
Lundbeck Research USA, Inc.
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
National Eye Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institute of Mental Health
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
National Institute on Aging
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
National Science Foundation
One Mind
Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group
Sanofi
Simons Foundation
Staff
Sheena Posey Norris
Lead
Eva Childers
Kimberly Ogun
Major units and sub-units
Center for Health, People, and Places
Lead
Biomedical and Health Sciences Program Area
Lead
